John Berry / The Post-StandardJeremy Johnson of Pulaski began loading salt onto trucks at 7:45 this morning as crews at the NYS D.O.T. road maintenance facility in N. Syracuse prepare for the storm predicted for later today. The salt trucks can only reach a maximum speed of 35 m.p.h. while applying the material to prevent the salt from bouncing off of the highway.

Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-ReviewJim Sanderson carries his dog Pepper on a walk Thursday in Spokane, Wash. The storm set records in the West and will hit Syracuse today.

Syracuse, NY -- Here's the latest on today's snowstorm from the National Weather Service, which has Central New York under a winter storm warning until midnight tonight.

Snow is expected to spread into the Finger Lakes between 7 and 9 a.m., then into the Mohawk Valley by 11 a.m. It will be heavy at times this afternoon and early evening before tapering off by midnight. The heaviest snow is expected between 1 and 6 p.m. with possible snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour.

Total accumulation of 6 to 10 inches is expected, with more for the hill towns south of the Thruway and in the higher terrain of Cortland, Chenango and Otsego counties.

People are warned to only travel in an emergency during the height of the storm.